Fifth Gear
by Booki Brown
Summary: A public relations rep struggles with being in love with her client, leaving her long-time boyfriend, and keeping a professional manner.


_Where are you going?_ She asked herself. She didn't know or care where she ended up just as long as she wasn't with _him. He_ was her boyfriend. They had a fight, like they always did. But this time it got violent. So she did the only thing she knew, leave and don't look back. 

As she replayed the fight over in her head, she hadn't notice that she had pulled into Tristan's driveway. Tristan was her best friend, from high school. After they graduated they vowed to stay friends, which surprisingly worked since she went to college for two years in Charleston, two hours away.

Tristan saw her pull up and met her at her car window. He saw the tears rolling out of her blackened eye. "What the hell!" 

"Don't worry it was my fault," she said as she got out the car. 

"It doesn't matter Brynn" she could tell he was mad that she was making excuses for him. "He shouldn't lay a hand on you no matter what you say or do."

"I didn't say he hit me I was getting out the shower and slipped and hit the towel rack." She looked into Tristan's eyes hoping to see some sort of believe in them. But what she saw was anger.

"Well come in and we can talk about you falling out the shower," he closed her door. 

She knew he didn't believe the shower story but she didn't want Tristan to do something stupid. She loved Michael but she had been in love with Tristan since they meet. She just wanted to act like the whole fight never happened.

When she got inside she felt a since of relief. A since of security. She tried to hide those feelings. She sat on the couch next to his dog, Panther. Tristan came out of the kitchen with a towel wrapped around a ball of ice. 

"So, are you going tell me the truth?" She looked at him with a confused look. "I know you're clumsy and all, but do you really think I'm going to believe you fell?"

She thought for a second, smiled then put the towel with ice on her eye as she leaned back on the couch, "Okay, so he hit me. Big deal I got out of there before he got extremely mad." 

"I don't care how stinking mad Mike was or how fast you got out of there. Brynn, I'm tired of you crying at the track because he doesn't trust you." He put his hand up to stop her from saying what she was about to say, "Or because he wants you to come home now. Or for any other bullshit reason. You don't need to be around someone like that."

"Why are you acting like I don't know this? Do you know how hard it will be to leave him. And if he finds out that I was --"

"What? Are you saying that he doesn't want you over here?" He could tell she was really upset and him yelling at her only made it worse because he knew how much she liked him. 

"No! It's not that. He knows that I have…" she looked at him like he was a cop who she accidentally confessed to about having drugs in her possession.

"That you what…have feelings for me." He knew by the look on her face that he was correct. "Was that what the fight was about. Did he try to stop you from going to the track with us tonight?"

"Yes." that's all she said. 

That's all he needed her to say. He wanted her there and for some reason he couldn't figure out why. He knew for six years she liked him. He knew that it would come down to this because Mike was jealous of Tristan. Mitch was up to get the position of late model stock driver for Palmetto Motorsports, when Tristan out ran him on the track. So naturally Tristan received the job. 

"You know that if we had an actual relationship that it would mess things up at the track." Tristan told Brynn. She had an upset look in her eyes. He felt the same pain, but he knew how things would get at the track. "And when Mitch gets that car he was talking bout, then it's going to be even worse."

"It okay I understand. You don't want to date."

"No, Brynn it's not that way." He cupped his hand around her check and eye, "I really like you but in all honestly I think it would be better for everyone at the track for us to just stay friends." He felt as if his heart had stopped beating. He knew he cared for Brynn and that it hurts him to say this but he did what he thought was best for them. And not just them but for everyone involved with the Palmetto Motorsports team. 

He saw in her eyes the disappointment as she nodded her head in agreement. He felt the same disappointment. He waited years for her to leave Mike. But he didn't want it to be this way. And most of all he didn't want it to effect his career. He knew it was selfish to only think about his-self. He got up walked to the door and looked outside. "You want to ride with me to the track today?"

"No, I don't think I'm going to make it to the track tonight." He turned and looked at her in shock, "What, you just got done saying you didn't want things to get weird at the track. You think me showing up with you wouldn't speculate some rumors." 

"It not that you aren't going to ride with me but that you aren't planning on going." He didn't know whether to get mad or just leave it alone. He knew Brynn loved going to the track. It was all she's done since she was a baby, going with her father as he worked on cars. 

"Well Tristan, I would really hate for things to be weird for you tonight, because it's really only about you. I'll come to the track but I won't ride with you," she grabbed her keys off the table pushed her way past him at the door and got in her car. 

She felt the tears rolling down her check as she pulled into her driveway. She thought about going to the track but didn't honestly know if she wanted to. It would be the first Saturday night she missed in a long time. She thought about calling some friends to meet at the mall and forget all about today. But she knew they would know something was wrong because Saturday was race day. 

She climbed out of the tub after taking a nice long shower. She stared at the phone for a few seconds then picked it up.

"Hello," 

"Hey Sarah. What you up to today?" Brynn was happy she answered the phone. Sarah and her had been friends since hey were babies. 

"Nothing just thinking bout going to the mall," Sarah replied.

"Well ain't that a cawinky dink. I was just thinking bout heading that way myself." _Well truth be told I didn't make up my mind until you mentioned you was going._

Sarah let out a small chuckle, "Yea right Brynn, it Saturday."

_Oh no, I'm busted._ "Yea I know but I'm not going to the track tonight"

"Wow, why not," 

_My boyfriend punched me in the face because I was going to the track to support his all time rival. _"No reason in particular, just feeling like shopping since Tristen isn't racing tongiht"

"Nope don't believe ya, what is wrong?"

_Tristan doesn't wanna date me because things will get weird. _"Nothing I need new summer outfits."

"Yea ok if ya say so, Give me bout twenty minuets then meet me at McDonalds in the food court." Sarah said in a 'I'll get it out of ya' tone.

"Great see ya in twenty." Brynn hung up the phone before Sarah could say anything. She knew she would have to tell Sarah everything soon or later, later Brynn hoped.

Sarah knew right away something was wrong when she walked up to Brynn. Brynn had order food and was sitting at a table waiting for her. "So since when is summer clothes more important then Saturday night racing?"

"Since the team I work for isn't racing tonight." Brynn looked at Sarah.

"Why aren't they racing? Ain't it, like, to early in the season to be missing races?"

"Well aparently, the part that broke last week didn't get in on time so," Brynn shrugged.

"I thought ya'll won last week?" Sarah was not buying the story.

"Yeah," Brynn looked down and to the left, "Doesn't mean parts still didn't break. It was a good race."

Sarah knew that the team had plenty of back-up parts, she just nodded her head.

Sarah thought it was a little odd that Brynn had make-up on, considering she only wore it on special occasions. "What's with the make-up B? Something you're not sharing?" she said while giving Brynn the look a mother would give a child when they done something wrong and tried to hide it. 

Brynn let out a huge breath, "Okay, fine. Mike hit me in the face earlier today because I called him a overly jealous jerk. He didn't take it to good." Brynn replied looking down at her burger. 

"So what you call him a jerk and he just rears back and whacks the heck out of ya? Who does he think he is Mike Turner?" She thought she could make at least a smile form on Brynn's face, but she got a stern 'screw you' instead. "What you didn't find that funny?"

Sarah knew there was more to the story because Mike and Brynn had these kind of arguments all the time and all it did was give Brynn a reason to leave. Never has it caused her to pass on going to the track. "Look, I can't say I know what you are going through because I don't. But what I do know is that we are at the best mall in town an we are going to do the best therapy there is, shop."

Brynn looked up and gave a small smile and chuckled. 

"There's the B I know." Sarah said with a grin of her own. "What store is first?"


End file.
